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Review
. 2021 Mar 25;137(12):1573-1581.
doi: 10.1182/blood.2020008903.

How should we use convalescent plasma therapies for the management of COVID-19?

Erica M Wood  1   2 , Lise J Estcourt  3   4 , Zoe K McQuilten  1   2
Affiliations
Review

How should we use convalescent plasma therapies for the management of COVID-19?

Erica M Wood et al. Blood. .

Abstract

Convalescent plasma (CP) from blood donors with antibodies to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 may benefit patients with COVID-19 by providing immediate passive immunity via transfusion or by being used to manufacture hyperimmune immunoglobulin preparations. Optimal product characteristics (including neutralizing antibody titers), transfusion volume, and administration timing remain to be determined. Preliminary COVID-19 CP safety data are encouraging, but establishing the clinical efficacy of CP requires an ongoing international collaborative effort. Preliminary results from large, high-quality randomized trials have recently started to be reported.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict-of-interest disclosure: E.M.W. and Z.K.M. have received funding from Australia’s Medical Research Future fund for a trial of convalescent plasma; and, through Monash University’s Transfusion Research Unit, have received research funding for research outside of the scope of this work from AbbVie, Alexion, Amgen, AstraZeneca, the Australian and New Zealand Society for Blood Transfusion, the Australian Red Cross Blood Service, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, CSL Behring, Dova Pharmaceuticals, Janssen-Cilag, Maddie Riewoldt’s Vision Foundation, National Blood Authority Australia, the New Zealand Blood Service, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi, and Takeda. E.M.W. is president of the International Society of Blood Transfusion. L.J.E. has received funding from the NIHR for convalescent plasma trials (RECOVERY and REMAP-CAP) and funding from a Horizon 2020 European Union (EU) grant as part of the SUPPORT-E programme; and is employed by NHS Blood and Transplant. Z.K.M. is a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Australasian Leukaemia and Lymphoma Group.

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